Star MegaDO 4 - Pre event discussion

Snowball sounds negative, how about how things "evolve".

+1 especially with the new *A CEO being a UA exec.

TG's A380 should fly BKK-Europe lines

Yes indeed! And of course not forgetting the baggage system tour!

Ashamed to say I missed even being aware of SMD I and II. Still, I would love to see SPG back as a hotel partner. Hyatt have been the only option for SMD3 and OWMD, and for all the great things I hear about them in the US, their UK and Australian presence is underwhelming. (Although SPG are running short of Australian properties too. ). Hilton would do at a pinch, IHG at the outside

Are RCC drink chits still usable ?

Some FAs will allow them on-board, but they don't work in the clubs.. My offer was more of a joke.

Depending on where you are based of course.

I hope the powers that be will be mindful that Rosh Hashanah starts the night of September 16th. I really want to be in on this one but any date conflict would have mean it's a no-go.

Thanks.

That's ok. You've defected, so it just makes more room for the rest of us. Tell me, was it in part our conversation from AKL BNE that that made you more aware? That was a fun flight! Well met! Shame the breakfast champagne ran out..

Couple of questions:
Can and How do you add vote for an additional option after you made your first selection and submitted the vote?

Looks like we are headed to a plurality of votes, so is it first past the post, or will we have a runoff election?

hmm, can you get swill there?

-David

Seemed to me that they have a couple of different offers on the go. It you have a look on FT at the London Do, the Hyatt offer there reads differently to OWMD1, as does the Churchill offer to the group, who have to stay in house to benefit.

Perhaps, but I would be forced to try all I could find to see if it were possible.

It was indeed fun. But no, my real awakening came with the Come Fly To Me DO in Dec 2010 and the fine folks who welcomed me there!

So it seems that competition to get seats for the MegaDo is fierce. I noticed it was on a CO 737 last year. Any chance of chartering a bigger plane, like a 757, so more people can make it? Or is that much more expensive?

And has Hilton done an SMD? Is there interest in them being a part of this?

I think a good procedure to put in effect is that if you have been on a do, you need have the option to get a seat after those who have never been on. Essentially make a business class cabin and block it out for those who have been. really if your from the general public it is all luck if you are able to get a seat.

I suggest try to get a widebody...... and go for INTL style of service inflight

It wasn't really as fierce until the pent up demand of OWMD.

SMD2 took months to sell out, and it was specifically because of the lack of a sellout that "Tommy Class" was created.

SMD3 took about 2 months to sell out.

OWMD took 15 minutes. Partly because it was the first OneWorld event, partly because the Mega DO brand has grown.

I think a bigger plane could be had, but at some point, we have diminishing returns. For example, it would likely not be feasible to go from a narrowbody to a widebody because the extra fuel cost would not likely be partially subsidized by cargo shipments, for example.

But it has been mentioned in other threads, and I think it is an idea worth exploring, to get a sense of "hard" interest in the event, i.e., putting down deposits in advance (but not technically a deposit for a charter, unless EU or Asia charter rules are different than US charter rules).

First dibs for OWMD were given to those who were able to attend the launch party. There are pros and cons to this. SMD3 was simply first come, first served, which, depending on interest, may no longer be a feasible "filter" either.

As mentioned above, and in other threads, the challenge with chartering a widebody is that the fuel costs go up significantly (and not proportionally to the increase in seating capacity), but without cargo to offset the costs, the per person cost would have to go up significantly. That's not to say that it's impossible to charter a widebody, but it probably is impractical.

I think it will depend on the charter price, and cost per passenger as to the plane option. I believe that they tried to get a larger plane for the OWMD, but it was not possible.

Only SPG and Hyatt so far have been hotel participants, and for frequent travelers, they have offered much better benefits to their customers than Hilton.

757-200 isn't much bigger than 737-900 we were on last time, if I'm not mistaken.

With the distances in asia being much greater so would we be looking at a week long event or what? and How do the organizers plan to keep this an affordable event?

I guess the question one would have to ask is how much is a reasonable amount to spend for what would likely be less than 4 days in asia.

If everyone is deadset on asia would it not make sense for the do to orginate in the USA and have a set flight or 2 that everyone flies to asia on? and include that in the price. then have the "charter" start in asia.

Second What does asia offer that Europe Cannot offer?

But I am totally opposed to the idea of an Asia do, mainly for the cost associated with it. I think that choosing asia as the location works for those based in that hemisphere. However, it will be extremly costly for anyone far away. I have a few other thoughts I shall keep to myself

Last, who do the organizers envision the target audience is for the megado's?

If they do advance deposits for SMD4 count me in.

Most of the "official" charter events have been about 3 days. And no doubt, everyone's definition of affordable is different.

What is a reasonable amount to spend 4 days...or less than 24 hours in Europe? Again, everyone's definition of affordable is different, but, for example, some are spending an additional ~$3000 to fly in J on the OWMD TATL, including transportation and hotel.

For SMD2, for the optional TATL, there were group feeder flights.

It's less about the cities and more about the carriers. The *A Asia carriers totally rock compared to the *A non-Asia carriers. And, most of the EU carriers listed have already been flown on SMD1/2/3.

YMMV.

People who are aficionados/fanatics/aerophiles/crazy about flying/points/travel/being with other similarly situated people. We come from all backgrounds. Younger, older; some with more disposable income, some with less; some with elite status, some without; from all continents (though I haven't yet met anyone from the African or Antarctic continents on a Mega DO).

That having been said, Mega DOs are not necessarily cheap. With positioning flights, optional pre-DO events, the charter itself, hotels, auction events, and depending on the class of service flown, it has easily cost $5000+ for me personally on both SMD2 & 3. But that's not to say it can't be done more cheaply - but only to a point. Even if one uses miles for the positioning flights, only flies the charter (and only in economy), and shares a room, the cost could still be in the $1500 range.

+1